


Little Truths

by myhomeistheshire



Category: The Strange Case of Starship Iris (Podcast)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, First Kiss, Sana Attempts Babysitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-24 04:55:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19166251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myhomeistheshire/pseuds/myhomeistheshire
Summary: After the events of season 1, Sana makes reparations.(or, babysitting and confessions)





	Little Truths

It’s three months before she gets up the nerve to call Campbell. Three months, two weeks, and four days. If she’s being precise.

 

It’s three months, and the only reason she’s calling him is because they desperately need medical supplies, and Telemachus is the closest planet with a functional market. Her crew is more important than her pride, she reminds herself as she stands in front of the communications deck. So she sucks in a deep breath, and gives the command.

 

She almost doesn’t expect him to answer, so when he does she has to take a second not to panic.

“Captain Tripathi,” He says as a greeting, his tone indecipherable.

“Campbell,” Sana replies. “How are you?”

“I feel like I should be asking you that question,” he says dryly. “Do you know, I’ve seen your name plastered across the city all week? Whatever you’ve done to piss the IGR off, you’ve really done a spectacular job.”

“That’s - kind of what I’m calling about,” she winces.

“Oh?”

“We need to stop at Telemachus, discreetly, for medical supplies and new IDs. And we have four cases of real earth bourbon, if you have anyone who would be interested?”

“I can think of a few people,” Campbell replies. “When will you be landing?”

“In about thirteen hours, provided we don’t run into any hiccups at the border. As far as payment goes -”

“We can discuss that when you arrive,” Campbell says swiftly. “See you tomorrow.”

And then call disconnects, and leaves Sana with a tornado brewing in her gut and an inescapable sense of worry that she cannot reason away.

 

She tries anyways, first with wandering the ship, then with the book she’s attempting to read, and finally with a mug of tea and her toolkit taken to the engine room. Nothing has ever managed to steady her like the familiar motion of her work; of moving joints and levers to find a problem with a certain fix. She works until her fingers are numb and grey with oil, and she feels the movement of the ship landing. Well, shit. She wipes her hands off on a rag (which doesn’t help much, considering the state of the fabric) and goes to meet the crew at the landing bay.

 

“I’ll go meet Campbell,” she instructs the others. “Park, you stay here to watch the ship with Krejjh and Jeeter. Keep an eye on the frequencies we’re tapped into, let me know right away if there’s anything funky. RJ, you’ll go with Liu and first mate Patel to collect the medical supplies.”

“Sana -” Arkady clearly has thoughts on the _going alone_ portion of this plan, but the captain cuts her off with a swift look.

“This is where you need to be,” she states firmly. _And this is where I need to be,_ she thinks, trying not to go to the worst case scenario of finally seeing Campbell again. Part of her feels like she can explain herself better if it’s only the two of them, and part of her….

Well. She’ll just have to see where this goes.

 

They split off just out of the loading deck, and she sees Violet reach out and give Arkady’s hand a quick squeeze. It makes Sana smile, every time she realizes how much the woman means to her best friend.

 

And then she’s on her own. It’s a short walk to Campbell’s, but the whole way she has to focus on sorting through an image she has in her head of the ship’s repairs to keep her imagination from spinning out of control.

When she arrives she sets the box of bourbon on the ground, knocks sharply on the door and then stuffs her hands in her pockets, rocking back on her heels. There’s a crashing sound from inside and a loud curse from the familiar voice.

“Campbell?” She calls through the door. And then, when there’s no answer: “Ignatius?”

She’s almost ready to kick the door down when it swings open, revealing a haggard looking Campbell with exhaustion scripted on his features.

He runs a hand through his hair and looks at her with a hint of shock. “Shit, I forgot you were coming,” he says, beckoning her inside. “Sorry, it’s - it’s been a crazy day.”

“I can tell,” Sana replies, looking around - there are tools and tin cans strewn around the place, and an overturned bookshelf which seemed to be the source of the crash. “What’s -”

She discovers the answer to her question before the end of her sentence, when two small children race around the corner and collide into her, and each other, before she fully realizes what’s going on.

“Niko, Lucas! _Please_ watch where you’re going, for the last time!” Campbell sighs, sounding more exhausted than angry.

“Hey there, guys!” Sana says brightly, and the two boys look up at her after collecting themselves from the floor.

“Who are _you_?” The younger one asks, peering up at her with big brown eyes.

“ _Niko._ ”

“It’s fine,” Sana laughs. “I’m a friend of your uncle’s. You can call me Sana.”

“Sanaaaaaaa.” The boy tries it out, then looks up at his older brother, who crosses his arms.

“What are you doing here?” He asks suspiciously. “Uncle said nobody was s’posed to see us while we were here.”

Sana shoots a look at Campbell, who manages a rueful grin. “So much for that plan, hey boys? But it’s okay. I’ve known Sana for a long time, you can trust her.”

 _You can trust her._ Sana swallows. It feels unfair, this sort of forgiveness, even if he is doing it just to set the boys at ease.

“You guys go play in the other room for a minute, okay?” Campbell suggests and then the kids are off in a scrambling rush of noise and movement. He takes a deep sigh, and then turns to really look at her for what seems like the first time since she’d arrived. “Sorry about that. My sister had an emergency surgery, and there was no one else to take the boys and I was supposed to meet up with someone right after this and it’s just been -” he stops and blows out a deep breath. “Anyways. That’s - a lot of information. I’m sorry for the chaos, I’ll find those IDs for you.”

“You know,” Sana offers before she can overthink it, “we’re going to be planetside for the day while the others round up things from the market. If you need someone to take the boys for a little while…”

“No, Sana, thank you, but I couldn’t ask that of you.” Campbell replies, sifting through a pile of papers on his desk.

“You didn’t. I’m offering.”

And then he looks up at her, a sort of searching in his gaze. It speaks to the sort of urgency of his meeting that he hesitates, and then replies; “You’re sure - you’d really be okay with that?”

“Of course.” Sana nods with more confidence than she feels. Even with the chaos around them...she’d be able to keep two small humans in check for an hour, right? She keeps a whole crew in line on a regular basis. It’ll be fine.

Campbell surprises her by stepping closer and planting a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you, Sana, this is - thank you.”

She doesn’t know how to respond to any of this, just nods and pushes him towards the door. “Go, we’ll be fine. You can get me the IDs when you’re back.”

He nods, then steps over to the room where the boys are. “Lucas, Niko - Sana’s going to stay with you for a little bit, okay?” Dissenting murmurs follow this statement, and he turns back to face her. “I’ll be back in forty minutes - an hour, tops. And Sana, remind me that I owe you a drink.”

“You’ll owe me two,” Sana says with a smirk, and he laughs - a huge bellowing sound that sends a rush of energy through her, stupidly, before he leaves.

 

So that’s it. Sana Tripathi: revolutionary, ship thief, escaped convict, and now: babysitter. Maybe not the most impressive item on her résumé, but definitely the most terrifying.

Case in point: the boys are throwing handfuls of screws at each other when she walks into the room.

“Hey guys!” Sana interjects, quickly pulling the small missiles from their hands. “Let’s not throw things that can hurt each other, hey? Why don’t we play a game? Why don’t we play, uhh...twenty questions?”

“That’s boring,” Niko pouts, just as Lucas’ eyes light up.

“Can you show us your ship?” He asks, and Sana’s brow furrows.

“I...how do you know I have a ship?”

“You’re the capp’n,” Niko sulks from where he’s collapsed onto the floor. “Uncle Iggy’s got a picture of you in his office.”

“That’s...what?” Sana struggles to take in all the information: Campbell has talked about her to his nephews, has a picture of her, and... _Uncle Iggy?_

“So, can we see your ship?” Lucas persists, folding his arms.

“Not right now, I’m afraid,” Sana replies, and Lucas sighs dramatically. “Maybe another time.”

“Yeah, right. That’s what Mom always says when she really means ‘no’.”

“Would it help if I show you how to make a little catapult you can throw those screws around with?” Sana rebutts, taking in the amount of scraps around her and the nearly-full toolkit attached to her waist. Both the boys’ faces light up and they immediately crowd around her.

“I wanna catapult!” Niko begs.

“I wanna _build_ a catapult!” Lucas crows, and Sana laughs.

“Okay. But here’s the deal: you can only shoot the screws into a bucket, not at each other. Alright?”

“Deal,” the two boys agree simultaneously.

 

It doesn’t take much to get the boys invested: she tells them what they need, gets them to set up the parts, and then drills a hole with careful precision as to the distance between sharp edges and their small fingers. She’s so completely caught up in the project that she almost drills into her own hand when a call comes in through her earpiece.

“Hey, Arkady,” She replies with a huff, carefully setting the drill down. “Is everything okay?”

“I was gonna ask you the same question,” Arkady says cautiously. “We got back early, and you still weren’t here - I was worried. Is Campbell -”

“Everything with Campbell is fine,” Sana assures her friend while trying to keep the boys focused on their project and not her call. “I just - got a little held up. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“What is that in the background?” Arkady asks, ever suspicious. “Is that -”

“Talk to you in a bit!” Sana quips, ending the call before Arkady can get too much information. If she knew that the captain was babysitting instead of collecting IDs, she would never live it down.

“Who was that?” Lucas asks, handing her a small metal plate that she continues to shape with her pliers.

“That was my friend,” Sana replies brightly, handing the piece back. “Ready to put this part together?”

“Ready!”

They spend another few minutes piecing the catapult together before Niko says nonchalantly, “You’re not as scary as Uncle Iggy says.”

Sana coughs. “He says I’m scary, huh?”

“He said you were in - in -”

“Incomprehensible,” Lucas finishes with all the energy of a kid who reads more than he speaks. Niko nods solemnly.

“Incompsible.”

Sana hides a smile. “And that’s scary?”

“Mama says anyone we don’t know is scary.”

A pang rings through her chest. “Well, your mom is a very smart woman. But you know me now, so you don’t need to be scared of me anymore, right?”

Lucas squints at her suspiciously, then nods. “Uncle Iggy also said you were better at building things than anyone else he knows. And that you were the most super-secret spy, and you fight all the bad guys.”

“He did, did he?” Sana takes another piece from his small hands and drills it into the base. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know about the spy stuff,” Lucas frowns. “But you can build a catapult. So that part’s right.”

“ _I_ think you’re a super-secret spy,” Niko chimes in. “Because you’re wearing a disguise.”

And Sana can’t help but laugh out loud at this, adjusting her overalls. “You’re exactly right, Niko.”

When they’ve finished the catapult, the boys take turns fighting over which one of them can shoot the furthest, or can get the most into the bucket. Sana takes this moment to step back and take a breath, and - the door to Campbell’s office is open, and she can’t help the niggling curiosity in her chest. She takes one last glance towards the boys before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

It’s less chaotic than outside, but still the sort of haphazard organization that she’s come to associate with Campbell - stacks of papers on every surface, boxes stacked on top of each other with crude cursive labels, lists tacked to the wall. And there, on the desk - a framed photo. She steps closer, and picks it up to see the image better. In it is a younger version of herself and Campbell; they’re at some sort of pub, and his arm is wrapped around her while she grips a beer with one hand and the table with another, half-bent over with laughter. He’s looking down at her in the photo, and it’s the sort of carefree expression that she’d forgotten his face had ever worn.

 

“Sana?”

She jumps, and nearly drops the photo. She turns around to see Campbell standing in the doorway, eyeing her with a neutral expression. Suddenly all the worry she’d been ignoring rushes back, and she straightens the frame on the desk. “I’m sorry, the boys just said there was a picture in here and I was - I was curious. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Campbell replies softly, glancing outside and then closing the door behind them. “I wanted to talk to you, I’m sorry we didn’t get a chance earlier.”

“Me too.” Sana takes in a shaky breath. “Look, I know what you must think of me. But I won’t apologize for keeping my crew safe. I’m sorry I accused you. But I’m not sorry I cut off communications during that time - it was the best bet, the _safest_ bet, and I -”

“ _Sana!_ ” Campbell cuts her off, exasperated. “I’m not angry.”

Sana blinks. “You’re not…”

“No.” He sighs, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Look, I was worried. I was angry with the IGR, with the situation - but not with you. I wanted to apologize for the way I acted. It was out of line, and - I really just wanted to make sure you were safe.”

A wave of guilt hits her. Guilt, and - something else. Something that’s burning in the pit of her stomach, that she can’t release no matter how hard she tries. So she gives up.

“Campbell?” She asks, taking a step closer. "Ignatius." His gaze flickers up to meet hers, and she sees something flash through his eyes that she can’t decipher. “Ignatius, why did you keep this picture?”

He looks down. She takes another step.

 

“You know why,” he says hoarsely.

 

Sana closes the gap between them.

 

She could have stayed there forever, fingers tangled in his hair, lips pressed against his. But of course, life interrupts - and in this case, life was the screech of children from the room next door.

Campbell chuckles against her lips. “You know, they were doing enough destruction without a catapult,” he murmurs.

“Hey, I never said I would be a _good_ babysitter,” Sana replies mockingly, giving him one last quick kiss before releasing him to find the source of the chaos. “Also, apparently I’m a super-secret spy? So I can only be so good at child rearing with all of those other skills taking up my time.”

Campbell groans. “They told you.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Sana presses her lips together to hide her smile. “Apparently I am _quite_ the conversation starter around here.”

“ _Traitors_ ,” Campbell mutters as he goes to collect the boys who have started using the catapult as a blunt force weapon. “Lucas, Niko - opposite corners. You can stay there until you’re ready to apologize to each other. Here, I’ll walk you out.”

Sana almost doesn’t notice that the last part is directed towards her; when she does, she follows him to the entrance.

“Is there any chance the _Iris II_ will be here for any longer?” Campbell asks nonchalantly as he rifles through the papers next to the door, handing her a thick envelope labeled with her name. “Say, through this evening?”

Sana smiles. “I think we could make something work. We still need to haggle over that case of earth bourbon, anyways.”

“Perfect.” Ignatius smiles at her, and it reminds her of the way he looked in the photo - young, unworried, happy.

 

She goes on her tiptoes as he bends down to give her one last kiss, and realizes that right now, she feels a little bit like that, too.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Props goes to EnchantedSleeper for coming up with the picture idea, and for encouraging me to get this one started :)


End file.
